A global pandemic, an energy crisis, a war on Europe’s doorstep and global inflation will not have affected the level of IT investment by French companies. According to IDC, they will spend 151.3 billion euros in digital in 2023. A trend that will continue in the coming years. Based on an annual increase of 6.1%, above the European average of 5.4%, spending on IT will reach 180.3 billion euros by 2026.
The research firm salutes the good resilience of French companies which are continuing their digital transformation despite high energy prices, rising interest rates, strikes linked to pension reform or the weak GDP growth (about 0.7% in 2023). A market primarily driven by the banking sector, industry and the business services sector. Public support is no stranger to this good health, IDC evoking the post-Covid recovery plan or the France 2030 investment plan.
AI, IaaS and RPA
“Inflationary pressure in France is expected to remain high, which will have a significant impact on organizations’ IT budgets, tempers Stefano Perini, head of research at IDC European Data and Analytics. VSHowever, public investment plans and reforms will continue to encourage digital transformation initiatives in key sectors such as banking and industry. »
The fastest growing spending items are, unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence technologies, on-demand infrastructure solutions (IaaS) and application platforms. AI-based use cases, such as predictive maintenance in industry and medical imaging in healthcare, are popular. The automation of business processes by software robots (RPA, Robotic process automation) also contributes to the transformation of companies.
CIOs, big winners in arbitration
This study confirms other forecasts, such as the one established worldwide by the firm Gartner. Counter-intuitively, inflation can have a positive impact on CIO budgets when it comes to trade-offs. Rising prices are leading companies, like households, to prioritize their investments. And financial uncertainty would encourage companies to accelerate their digital transformation instead of slowing it down.
According to a study conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Citrix (250 respondents), 70% of French CIOs believe that inflation and its consequences, such as the redefinition of priorities in terms of expenses and organization, will have a positive impact on their current project. Nearly a third of CIOs even speak of a very positive impact. Finally, 78% of IT decision makers surveyed believe that their technology budget will increase in 2023.
Cybersecurity, priority of priorities
In terms of priorities, IT managers surveyed cite cybersecurity (54%), gradual migration to the cloud (36%) and, again, automation (24%). Post-Covid projects are continuing, whether to support teleworking and remote collaboration or to improve the lives of employees.
This favorable budgetary orientation also concerns SMEs. According to a study conducted in February by Propeller Insignts for JumpCloud (403 respondents), the IT managers of these small and medium-sized companies face the same paradox. 57.3% of them perceive signs of recession in the activity of their company. However, the vast majority (75.2%) recorded an increase in their budget.
In this context, spending related to cybersecurity seems like sanctuary. 55.8% of IT decision makers in SMEs make it their priority issue and 36.1% are not afraid of a budget cut at this level. Three-quarters of them even make cybersecurity an important factor in choosing an IT solution.